There will be two assignments:
Written Assignment (due before Ses #7)
We will distribute the abstract of a published paper not discussed during the course during Ses #6. In two pages (double-spaced) or less, please describe the experiments (including controls) that might have been done to justify the abstract.
Oral Assignment (due during Ses #12)
We will distribute a paper per student or group of two students during Ses #11. Each student or group will use PowerPoint to present the paper, including a brief introduction, 4 figures, and a summary. A critical analysis of the paper should be presented by the students. For each figure, answer the following questions: what is the question that the authors are addressing? What are the experiments and techniques used to address the question? What are the controls for the experiments? What is the conclusion stated by the authors? Is this conclusion substantiated? Most importantly, students should identify the key figure(s)/table(s) of the paper and the key control experiment(s) for that figure or table. Presentations will be 15 minutes followed by 5 minutes of discussion with the audience.
Instructions for oral presentation (PDF)